PCSE Practice Question: Configuring Access Within a Cloud Solution Environment
A developer needs to deploy a web application on Compute Engine that must access Cloud Storage buckets. The best practice for providing credentials to the VM is to:
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create a service account with the required roles and attach it to the Compute Engine instance.
The best practice is to create a service account, assign the appropriate roles to it, and attach it to the Compute Engine instance. This avoids managing static keys and uses the instance's metadata server for automatic credential retrieval.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Generate a JSON key for a service account and store it on the instance.
Why it's wrong here
Storing keys on the instance is a security risk and not recommended.
- ✗
Use the Compute Engine default service account and grant it the required roles.
Why it's wrong here
While possible, the default service account is often over-permissioned; best practice is to create a dedicated service account with least privilege.
- ✓
Create a service account with the required roles and attach it to the Compute Engine instance.
Why this is correct
This uses the instance's default service account or a custom one, with credentials obtained automatically via metadata server.
- ✗
Store the user's personal credentials in the instance metadata.
Why it's wrong here
User credentials should never be stored on instances.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This PCSE practice question is part of Courseiva's free Google Cloud certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the PCSE exam.